The Hogwarts Guardians
by SquamousEpithelium
Summary: When Harry returns for his fifth year he is surprised to find that five new classes have been added to the time-table. Not only that but a new threat begins to present itself to the world. To defeat both Voldemort and Pitch, Harry must join forces with Guardians to protect all of the worlds children from the dark.
1. Chapter 1

The Guardians of Hogwarts.

Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the Great Hall.

'Whoa' Ron said. Floating high in the rafters of the great hall was a massive, revolving globe of the Earth. Harry could make out the individual countries marked out across the globe. Crisscrossing the globe were thousands upon thousands of individual golden lights, shimmering and glittering like stars.

The next thing they noticed was that five new figures were sitting at the staff table. One of them looked a lot like Hagrid and was virtually the same height, but his hair was white with the exception of his eyebrows. On his massive arms, Harry could make out two tattoos. The one on the right arm read 'Naughty' and the one on the left read 'Nice.' He was wearing a massive red coat trimmed with black fur and a small, black, furry hat.

The second figure was probably the most unusual. It was a massive rabbit with blueish-grey fur. Professor Trelawney, who sitting next to him, looked slightly unnerved. Around his upper torso, straddling his shoulder, was a belt into which large, painted eggs were strapped. Just pointing over his shoulder was what looked like the tips of two large boomerangs. He was leaning back in his chair with a bored expression on his face.

Two seats across from the rabbit was a half-human, half-hummingbird woman. She had iridescent feathers of green and blue. On the top of her head was a single yellow feather sitting there like a headdress. Behind her, were two, massive, insect-like wings that were fluttering quickly. Floating around her were what looked like tiny little specks of light, but on closer inspection Harry could see that they were miniscule versions of the woman herself. She was chatting animatedly to Professor Sprout.

Sitting next to Professor Flitwick was a man just as small as him, but golden-yellow in colour. He seemed to be sparkling as though he was made of sand. He was talking to Professor Flitwick, but he wasn't moving his lips. Instead he was conjuring images over his head like a game of Charades. Professor Flitwick seemed to be trying to guess what the golden man was saying, but seemed to be failing. The man's golden hair stuck up in five places making him look like a sunrise.

The final figure took Harry by surprise. It was a teenage boy, barely a few years older than himself. He had pure white hair that was even more untidy than Harry's. Instead of robes, he was wearing a blue hoodie with brown trousers and bare feet. In his hand he was clutching a long staff that looked like it had been pulled of a tree. He looked even more bored than the rabbit.

Then Harry noticed another figure. It was a stout woman dressed in pink with short, curly, mouse-brown hair. She looked like a toad with a pair of prominent, pouchy eyes.

'It's that Umbridge woman!' 'Who?' Hermione asked. 'She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge!' 'Nice cardigan,' said Ron, smirking. 'She works for Fudge! What's she doing here then?' 'Dunno. Hey do you think the other new staff members are with the ministry?"

* * *

After the Sorting and the feast, Dumbledore rose to his feet to give his usual speech and the hall turned it's attention to him. 'Well, now that we're digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices. First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students - and a few of out older students ought to know by now, too' he said, eyeing Harry, Ron and Hermione who grinned.

'We have a number of changes to the staffing this year. First, we are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons. We are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our New Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher,'

'I would now like to introduce the teachers of five new subjects to the school this year.' A murmur ran around the great hall. 'New subjects?' Hermione gasped, 'but what if we don't the right text-books?' Harry and Ron smirked.

'Our first new teacher is Professor North' Dumbledore said, gesturing to the tall man with the thick beard who waved, smiling widely, 'who will be taking the new classes of Wonder in dungeon ten.' A couple of groans echoed across the hall. The only other class that took place in the dungeons was Potions, taught by Professor Snape, was extremely unpopular.

'The second new class; Hope, will be taught by Professor Bunnymund.' The rabbit waved his hand vaguely. Several giggles ran around the hall, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil among them. 'Hope classes will be taking place in Greenhouse 8.'

'The third class will be Memory. It shall be situated in the South Tower, and Professor Tooth will be hosting it.' The humming-bird/woman hovered above her chair and waved tentatively. Several whispers broke out among the younger students.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. The whispers subsided. 'The next class shall be taken by Professor Sandy...' Dumbledore had gestured to the figure of the golden man, but he had fallen asleep and was snoozing gently. Several of the students began to laugh. 'Um...' Dumbledore hesitated, 'Professor Sandy. Professor Sandy!' But Professor Sandy stayed asleep.

'SANDY, WAKE UP!' The deep, russian voiced boomed across the hall causing everybody to jump. A few of the first-years let out minor shrieks. Professor North was standing up, glaring over at Professor Sandy who quickly woke up. 'Well... yes,' Dumbledore continued. 'Professor Sandy will be taking Dream classes which will be in the East ower.'

"The final classes will be Fun classes. They will be hosted by Jack Frost.' He nodded to the teenage boy. All of the girls in the hall even the ones in Slytherin, began either giggling or swooning over the handsome figure. Even a couple of the boys had to look away to avoid blushing. Jack looked over at Hermione... and gave her a tiny wink. Hermione smiled and blushed. Ron looked furious and turned red.

'Please, calm down,' Dumbledore said waving his arms. 'Now...' he continued 'Quidditch trials will take place on the...' but he broke off. Professor Umbridge had gotten to her feet and it was clear she was intending to make a speech. '_Hem, hem, _Thank you Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome.'

'Well...' she said surveying the hall 'it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts I must say.' She smiled revealing very pointed teeth. 'And to see such lovely little faces smiling up at me!' 'Ah rack off ya bloody show pony!' came a voice with a strong Australian accent. Professor Umbridge looked shocked and everyone in the hall turned to face Professor Bunnymund who was still leaning back in his chair. Laughter broke out again. Harry thought he saw Professor Umbridge betray a slight look of revultion.

* * *

After Professor Umbridge's speech, Professor Dumbledore clapped lightly and said 'Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating. Now as I was saying, Quidditch tr...,' 'Wait, come she gets to make speech, but we don't?' Professor North had gotten to his feet, looking distinctly disgruntled. Dumbledore looked even more suprised, but nodded and North stepped forward. 'I wish to make a brief speech about myself and my companions.' The teachers exchanged glances.

North cleared his throat and began 'We go by many names and take many forms. We bring wonder and hope. We bring joy and dreams.' Several of the students began muttering again. 'We are the Sandman, we are Jack Frost and the Tooth Fairy. We are the Easter Bunny and Santa and our powers are greater than you ever imagined.' Harry found himself attempting to suppress a burst of laughter.

'It is our job to protect the children of the world, for as long as you believe in us, we will Guard you with our lives.' Harry saw Draco Malfoy lean back in his chair looking bored. 'Professor Dumbledore has told us of the return of Lord Voldemort.' All the muttering ceased immediately. Students who'd been only half awake, now sat up straight on the benches. Even the teachers seemed surprised at this. 'It seems that we have never faced a greater threat... and so... we will fight.'

A stunned silence followed the end of this statement. Harry suddenly felt a great respect for the tall, fearsome man standing in front of the entire hall. North returned to his seat and a smattering of stunned applause began to fill the hall. Professor Umbridge was looking very disapproving.

* * *

Later that evening Harry lay in his bed, still fuming. Seamus Finnagan had accused Harry of being mad. Harry was now wondering how many attackers like Seamus it would take before people began to believe him.

A soft, golden glow sudden lit the room. Harry pulled back the curtains on his four-poster bed... and saw a trail of glowing golden sand floating through the window across the room. He picked up his wand. The sand floated over Ron's head. Harry was about to shout a warning, when the sand twisted above Ron's head and a golden image of Ron flying a broomstick appeared. Ron began to smile and hummed contentedly.

Harry's eyes followed the sand round the room. Neville had an image of himself holding his Mimbulus mimbletonia and a trophy hovering over his head. Seamus seemed to be having the same dream as Ron. Dean, however seemed to be playing football in his dream.

Harry looked at the strange sand... then extended his hand and touched it. Instantly, it coiled around his fingers and formed a miniature golden stag. It cantered around the room before dissipating. A sudden trail of the golden sand flew into Harry's eyes. He stumbled backwards, felt onto his bed and was asleep instantly.

The dream was beautiful. Harry was flying through the Quidditch World Cup stadium. 100,000 witch's and wizards were watching him from the stands, cheering. He could hear them all crying "HARRY! HARRY!" Harry saw the Snitch, flew forwards and caught it instantly. A roar of applause echoed throughout the stadium. Professor Dumbledore appeared in front of him holding the World cup. 'Congratulations Harry,' he said handing him the cup. Harry turned to face the crowd... and his parents were standing there. They looked so happy. 'We are so proud of you Harry,' his mother said. James and Lily Potter stepped forwards and embraced their son. Harry felt tears of happiness slide down his cheeks.

* * *

_Harry smiled contentedly as his dream unfurled the golden sand curled around his head. A tall figure stepped out of the shadows of the Dormitory. The pale flesh and the black hair contrasted perfectly with his yellow eyes. The figure stood over the sleeping form of Harry. 'What a wonderful dream,' the figure said. 'And look at you, so full of hope and happiness and wonder. Why, there's only one thing missing; a touch of fear.'_

_The figure extended its finger and was about to tap the sandy image of Harry and his parents when 'Then again, maybe such and action would not be wise with tha Sandman on alert.' The figure turned away. Before disappearing into the shadows, he turned back to Harry and said 'Harry Potter, you will fear more than Lord Voldemort by the time Pitch Black has finished with you.' And smiling, Pitch disappeared into the darkness._


	2. Chapter 2: Wonder

Chapter 2: Wonder

* * *

'Look what we've got today,' Ron groaned, dropping his spoon and staring down at his time table. 'Defence against the Dark Arts, Wonder, Hope, Memories, Dreams and Fun. Umbridge, North, Bunnymund, Tooth, Sandy and that Jack kid all in one day.' Harry stared down at his hardly touch plate of kippers. He had suddenly lost his appetite. 'Come on,' Hermione said, 'Give them a chance.' Ron snorted in disbelief.

It turned out that Professor Umbridge had found a competing place with Snape and Trelawney as Harry's least favourite teacher. When Harry had spoken out against her that Voldemort had returned she put him in a week's worth of detentions. 'What do you think North's gonna be like?" Ron asked as they descended the marble stairs into the entrance hall and turned towards the dungeons. 'I don't know, but he can't be worse than Umbridge,' Harry growled.

The class lined up outside of dungeon ten. There were nervous mutterings. Professor North was as yet, an unknown quantity. Harry heard a muttering. 'Do you honestly think this North man is capable of teaching us?' came Malfoy's drawling voice, 'He looks like like he should be in St Mungo's dementia ward.' 'Malfoy, can't you at least give him a chance before you put him down?' Hermione said frowning at him. 'I won't be told what to do by a filthy mudblood like you,' Malfoy snarled. Ron took a step towards Malfoy, but Harry and Hermione grabbed him which was lucky as the door swung open at that moment.

Several of the girls screamed. It wasn't professor North; it was a massive, hairy, chestnut-coloured yeti. '**WORRBBLEEOWWWRRBB!' **it roared. It cracked it's knuckles and stepped forwards. The yeti was suddenly pushed aside and North was standing there holding two, very large swords. 'Oh, is you all. Is all right Phil, they with me,' North said to the yeti who grumbled something in yetish and went back inside. 'Well, what you waiting for? In,' North continued, gesturing.

The cavernous dungeon beyond was nothing like potions class. It was brightly lit and decorated like a christmas tree had exploded in there. There were hundreds of desks and at them were yetis building toys. At others yetis were painting the toys. At still others the toys were being packaged into gift boxes. Harry felt something brush against his legs. Down by his feet was a little pointy headed elf. It offered a plate of cookies to him. 'Um, no thanks,' Harry said hesitantly.

'Do these yetis get fair treatment, like sick-leave and pensions and things?' Hermione asked. 'Are you now thinking of setting up S.P.A.Y? Society for the Promotion of Adopting Yetis?' Ron said smirking. Hermione glared at him. 'Of course they get fair treatment. I am kind and considerate person. I DON'T LIKE IT, PAINT IT RED!' North said as they walked past a yeti painting a blue robot. **'WHAT THA'?!' **the yeti roared. Next to the yeti was a massive stack of blue robots. **'AWW!' **the yeti roared in anger and smacked it's head down onto the desk. Hermione looked a little scandalized.

'I thought the elves made the toys,' Dean joked, looking at the construction work of the yetis. 'We just let them believe that,' Professor North whispered to him. Harry looked to his left. There was a small elf covered with christmas tree lights and another holding a plug. The second elf plugged the lights in and the first elf suddenly began hovering just above the ground on a carpet of static as the lights switched on. It's eyes were wide and gently smoking and it was smiling in a dazed fashion. Harry stared. 'Very nice,' North said giving a huge, false smile. 'Keep up good work.'

'STEP IT UP EVERYBODY!' North shouted across the dungeon. 'ONLY FOUR MONTH UNTIL CHRISTMAS!' One of the Yetis operating a forklift truck carrying a massive stack of presents roared something in response.

'Here we are,' North said as they approached a side door. He opened it. The walls of the room inside were made of ice and wooden shelves were attached to them. At the far end was an enchanted window, like the one's in the ministry only this one was overlooking a vast snow-field. Dotting the stone floor were massive blocks of ice. At the frost desk was what looked like a miniature toy racing track carved from ice. Lying haphazardly on the desk were small toys built from ice; trains, teddy bears, ponies, dolls, even one or two broomsticks. In the corner of the room beside the fireplace was a massive christmas tree.

'Take seat,' Professor North called to them. Harry, Ron and Hermione took seats at the table beside the Christmas tree. Once everyone was seated, Professor North picked up a small plate. 'Fruit cake anyone?' he offered. There were murmurings of "No thanks," and Professor North threw the cake into a corner of the room where the plate smashed and several elves immediately fell upon the food. 'Now...' North said cracking his knuckles 'time to down to tacks of brass.'

The door behind them slammed shut and locked itself. North stood in front of the class and he seemed to grow to fill the entire room. Several of the girls let out terrified squeaks. 'WHO ARE YOU ALL?' North roared so loudly that the entire room seemed to shake. Many of the students screamed at this and Malfoy was among them. 'WHAT IS YOUR CENTER?!' North commanded. There was a stunned, slightly fearful silence at this. 'P-Professor,' Hermione said nervously 'Um... what exactly is a center?' North turned to face her. 'If Man-in-Moon chose you to be witches and wizards, you must have something very special inside.' Harry was wondering who "The Man in the Moon" was when Malfoy cut in. 'We do; it's called magic, though some of us...' he glanced at Hermione, 'Aren't really up to...' He broke off as North's face turned to him. At what Malfoy had just said, North seemed to be trembling with rage. Malfoy fell silent and looked at his feet.

North turned back to Hermione then walked over to a shelf and took down a russian doll. 'Here,' He said, tossing it over to Hermione. The whole class stood on their feet to look. An image of North was carved on the front. He looked rather intimidating with a frown on his face and clutching two very large swords. 'This is how you see me, no?' North said tapping the doll. 'Very big, very intimidating.' Harry looked at the doll and back at North. He was right about that.

'However...' North continued, with a small smile crossing his face 'If you get to know me a little...' He opened the doll. Inside was another carving of North, but this one looked much more jolly. This North was smiling and holding a mug and several elves were clustered around his feet. 'You're jolly?' Harry suggested. Several Slytherins sniggered, but North smiled. 'Exactly,' he said which shut the Slytherins up.

'But not just jolly.' He continued and opened the second doll. Inside the jolly shell was a carving of North holding his cloak across his face and a rather sneaky look in his eyes. 'I am also mysterious.'

This doll opened and the one beneath it was smiling widely with a wild look in it's eyes. This North was brandishing it's swords. It looked slightly scary. 'And I am fearless' North said.

The doll inside this one was holding a small deer foal. A gentle smile was on North's face on this one and a tear was gently sliding down his cheek. Parvati and Lavender went 'Aww.' 'And caring,' North said, ignoring the girls. 'And at my center...'

The whole class took a breath as Hermione opened the last doll.

Harry raised an eyebrow. The final layer was a small wooden baby with big blue eyes and it was wrapped in a red blanket. 'Well?' North said looking at them all. 'A tiny wooden baby.' Malfoy said unimpressed. North glared at him and said 'Look closer. What do you see?' Harry didn't have a clue so he took a wild stab in the dark and said 'You have big eyes?' The Slytherins actually laughed at this and Harry felt himself blush with embarrassment.

'YES!' North yelled clapping his hands. The Slytherins were silenced again. 'Big eyes,' he said clutching Harry's shoulders. 'Because they are full... of wonder.' It suddenly made sense. 'My eyes have always seen the wonder in everything.' A small toy broomstick on North's desk came to life and began to fly around the room. 'I see lights in the trees and magic in the air. Wonder is what I put into the world and what I protect.' He looked at them as the Christmas tree burst into life.

'And this wonder is what I want you to put into the world.' 'How?' Neville asked. 'Like so,' North said, snatching up an ice block and slamming it down onto his desk. He kicked a small gramophone which began to play fast-paced russian music. North took out a chainsaw and Harry and several others backed away on their seats. The chainsaw whirred into life and cut straight through the ice block. 'Bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, ZUN!' North hummed along with the music. He then took out a small pickaxe and began to chip away at the ice. After a while he swapped it for a miniature chisel and began to cut out finer detail. After this, he took out another tiny chisling device with a tip so fine Harry couldn't see it, and began to carve incredibly fine detail into the ice. He then blew ice-dust off the thing and showed it to the class.

It was a tiny ice train. Several students clapped. North smiled. 'Watch,' he said and placed it on the racing track. The train moved off of it's own accord, small puffs of steam blowing from the spout. More applause. The train suddenly flew off of a ramp and for a moment, Harry thought that it was going to smash into the ground, but suddenly the train grew rockets and began to fly around the room. Many students cheered at this.

North laughed as the train soared past the door... which was suddenly flung open and smashed the train to oblivion. There were several gasps of dismay and North let out a wail. The yeti in the door looked very embarrassed with a slight hint of fear mixed in.

'How many times...' North said with his face in his hands, 'Have I told you...' His face turned red and everyone backed away from him. 'TO KNOCK!' he bellowed so loudly that several decorations fell off the tree and smashed on the ground. The yeti rumbled something and held out a clipboard. North sighed, stepped forwards and wrote something on it. 'And put in extra order for teddy bear stuffing, we're nearly out,' he said, a little calmer. The yeti nodded and virtually fled the room.

North turned and clapped his hands. A team of yetis marched into the room and placed ice-blocks and a selection of tools on the tables. Harry stared at his and at Ron who also seemed clueless as to what to do. 'Carve whatever you like,' North said sitting down at his desk and beginning work on another toy. All of the students were impressed by North's work and couldn't wait to get started, but it soon became apparent that it wasn't going to be easy.

Harry tried to carve a miniature snitch and he did manage to get a rough shape, but then his chisel slipped and cut the wing off. Ron was having worse luck. He had tried to make a broomstick, but it seemed that he was unable to carve anything out in a straight line and he kept snapping the ice into fragments as it seemed he was too heavy handed with the tools. Neville kept having to ask for a replacement as he was so nervous around the tools that he kept smashing his ice-block. Hermione had probably done the best. She had attempted to carved a miniature version of her wand and she had managed to get most of the rougher details, but when she tried to put finer details into the wand she ended up cutting off the top three inches.

The bell rang and Harry jumped. He had completely forgotten that he was in the castle and was convinced he was actually at the North pole. North looked up from the miniature model of Hogwarts he was crafting and said 'Shostakovich! Is it that time already?' He rose to his feet. 'Well off with you' he said waving his hands, 'And help yourself to cookies,' he continued gesturing to a large plate, stacked high with the biscuits. Many students, Ron in the lead, converged on the plate and began to grab as many as they could. North laughed. 'Leave some for me,' he roared with laughter.

During break, Harry, Ron and Hermione stood in the freezing courtyard discussing the lesson. 'O've we g't n'xt?' Ron asked with his mouth bulging with cookies. Hermione frowned at Ron and took out her time-table. 'Hope classes with Professor Bunnymund,' she said.


	3. Chapter 3: Hope

Chapter 3: Hope

* * *

Harry, Ron and Hermione lined up outside the greenhouses after break along with the other Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and (to general dismay) Slytherins. While they were waiting for Professor Bunnymund, Professor Sprout walked past with several third years. 'What are you all doing here?' she asked, her patched hat slightly askew on her fly-away hair. 'We're waiting for Professor Bunnymund, he's giving classes in Greenhouse 8', Hermione said.

Professor Sprout chuckled. 'Greenhouse 8 hasn't been here for over a quarter of century. It was destroyed in the blizzard of '68.' The class exchanged puzzled looks. 'It was sited a few meters into the forest from Hagrid's Hut,' she continued, pointing towards the game-keepers cabin.

After a few minutes of discussion, the class agreed to line up beside the forest. Once they had done so, a soft thumping reached their ears. Turning, they saw a large, furry figure come bounding across the lawns towards them. Parvati and Lavender giggled. The form of Professor Bunnymund reared up above them. 'G'day mates,' he said. All of the girls, with the exception of Hermione, began giggling incessantly.

'Follow me,' he said and he marched off into the forest. The class hesitated. The forest was off-limits to students and with good reason; the place was filled with terrible creatures such as werewolves and angry centaurs, not to mention giant, flesh-eating spiders. There was even a wild Ford Anglia roaming through the depths of the place.

'Are ya coming or not ya gumbies?' At the sound of Bunnymund's voice, the class drew it's breath and followed him into the forest. A couple of students squeaked as nettles brushed past them.

After a few minutes... 'WHOA!' A collective gasp echoed around the massive, sunlit quarry. Green plants filled it, some were clumped together in small thickets, in other places there was little more than meadows of grass. Flowing through it was a thin, purple stream which was emanating a fragrant, sugary scent. Dotting the place were massive egg statues and as they passed them, Harry thought he saw one or two of them turn to face him.

Then he didn't have to wonder any more as four of the statues marched towards them. Several students screamed like they had done in Wonder classes. The tops of the eggs twisted to show angry faces. 'Rack off, they're wi' me,' Bunny said. The eggs twisted again to show more complacent faces.

The class continued on, passing several weird flowers. 'Strange,' Hermione said, bending down to look at them. 'I've never seen any flowers like... aarrghh!' She yelled, jumping back as the flower split open. Inside it was a pure white egg. It jumped out of the petals on two tiny legs and hopped off into the undergrowth.

'What the bloody hell was that?' Ron said, staring after the little egg. 'Easter egg,' Bunnymund said from up ahead. 'Well that answers that question,' Ron said sarcastically.

At the dead centre of the quarry, a space had been cleared and several large stones had been set into the soil. It seemed that the rocks were supposed to be tables. 'Take a seat,' Bunny said. The class sat down on the soft moss around the rocks. Harry, Ron and Hermione chose a place beside a small pool of the purple liquid in the strange creek. Ron dipped his finger into it and it came out a rainbow of colours, not just purple.

Bunny hopped into the centre of the stone ring. He was holding an egg and a small paintbrush. 'I suppose you all think that Christmas is more important than Easter?' A few people murmured 'Yes.' 'WRONG!' Bunny bellowed. Neville squeaked and fell backwards into the stream. People might have laughed at Neville's predicament, but the sight of Bunnymund towering above them was far too off putting.

After a moment, Bunnymund calmed down. 'Do any of ya' know what the true spirit of Easter is?' No one answered. Then... 'Sir, is Easter about hope?' Everyone looked at Ron who blushed ruby-red. 'What gave ya' tha' idea, mate?' Bunnymund asked with an eyebrow raised. 'Well...' Ron hesitated, 'It's the name of the class?' There were several sniggers. Ron turned scarlet. 'Quite right,' Bunny said. 'Just because it's an obvious answer, doesn't mean it's not the right one.' Ron resumed his normal shade of colour.

'Easter is all about hope and new beginnings,' Bunnymund said, picking up a small flower. 'As we all know, new life is within an egg and new life brings new hope.' The flower split open. A small white egg on tiny legs hopped out. Bunny held it in his palm. Then he held out a paint brush and dipped the bristles into the purple stream. He put it to the shell and suddenly it burst into colours.

Bunny painted a beautiful pattern of green plant vines on a purple and blue background painted on the egg. He placed it onto the ground. The egg walked across the ground and it jumped into the stream. When it came out of the other side, it gleamed and shinned.

'As you're still only novices at this, ya' won't have to paint the eggs yet, but I would like ya' to help with the hatching process.' Bunny held out a small handful of white, egg-shaped seeds. 'I want you all to plant these seeds around the warren,' Bunny said, handing around the seeds. 'Make a hole about two inches deep and plant the seed into it. Make sure it's in partial or full sunlight.' 'And what do we get out of this?' Malfoy asked.

Bunny looked at him with mild distaste. 'If you do what I say, then maybe after christmas, I'll teach you this.' Bunny tapped the ground twice with his foot. A hole opened and Bunny jumped down it. The hole sealed immediately and a small flower sprouted out of where the hole had been. The whole class gasped. There was a small rumble and another hole opened on the other side of the river. Bunny jumped up out of it. 'I'll teach ya' to take the tunnels.'

Everyone immediately rushed around planting seeds. Harry found an empty patch beside a large rock carving. On the carving was a triangle and in the triangle was a carving of Bunnymund holding his Boomerangs. Harry dug a small hole in the ground... and out of it flowed a small quantity of black sand. Harry jumped back in alarm. The sand flowed together and created a small rat.

It leapt into the air and bit Harry hard on the nose. He jumped back. More sand appeared out of nowhere and this time it created a black sand horse. It reared up onto its hind legs and growled at him. It charged straight at Harry who fell back and dropped his wand.

Crash! A flash of mahogany shot past him and hit the horse which exploded into dust. The flash of wood turned into a boomerang and soared into the hand of professor Bunnymund. 'Are ya' alright mate?' he asked. Harry nodded, unable to speak. 'I think it's time to end this lesson,' Bunny said. 'Class dismissed,' he roared.

* * *

Once the class had left the Quarry, Bunny opened his tunnel and disappeared down it. He appeared in North's workshop. 'North, we have a problem.'


	4. Chapter 4: Memory

Chapter 4: Memory

**_Sorry this chapter has taken so long, but I have epilepsy and have been having seizures recently._**

* * *

Harry, Ron and Hermione ascended the stairs to the South Tower. Harry hadn't told Ron and Hermione about what he had seen in Hope classes for Bunnymund had been adamant not to.

'So we've had "_her_" for Defence against the Dark Arts,' Ron began counting off the new classes on his fingers, 'Cookie man for Wonder,' 'COOKIE MAN?' Harry and Hermione said in unison. Ron ignored them. 'And the kangaroo for Hope.' 'You're very disrespectful, Ronald. Anyway, we've got Memory classes next,' Hermione confirmed out loud checking her timetable.

The class was lined up outside of a very ornate door. It took them so long to get from the grounds to here, that as early as they had left hope, they were only just in time. As Harry, Ron and Hermione approached, it opened. Hovering there was a small swarm of fairies. One of them flew off into the room. The rest flew up to different members of the class and began peering in at their teeth. They then pushed everyone into the room.

A collection of gasps echoed through the group. The room was huge and didn't seem to have a true wall. It seemed to be a collection of towers of pink and golden colours. Between them were flying hundreds of specks that turned out to be hundreds of fairies. One flew past Harry holding something white. On closer inspection Harry saw that it was a tooth.

The fairy flew up to a small box in the wall which opened revealing a small collection of teeth. The fairy placed the tooth in the box and flew up to a small golden machine. It pressed a button on the machine which read "Pound" and a small coin ran down a chute. The fairy picked it up and flew away with it. Another machine next to the Pound machine read "Galleon." Ron smiled and pressed the button. 'OUCH!' He said as he received a sharp electric shock.

'Where's Professor Tooth?' Parvati asked. 'Up there,' Hannah Abbot said pointing. Indeed hovering on top of the highest of the towers was Professor Tooth. She seemed to be gesticulating to the different fairies. The class ascended a small ramp up to the tower top. Once they were close enough, they could hear what Tooth was saying.

'Chicago, Sector six: thirty seven molars, twenty two bicuspids, eighteen central incisors. Moscow, Sector nine: twenty two incisors, eighteen premolars. Uh oh, heavy rain advisory! Des Moines, we've got a cuspid at 23 Maple. Head out! Montreal, sector six: ten premolars, eight incisors and twelve canines. Steer clear of the wild goose migration. Ontario, sector nine: five canines, two molars, and fourteen incisors. Is that all in one house?' She stopped to consider something. 'I think I've forgotten something.'

'Um, Professor Tooth?' Lavender said stepping forward. Tooth jumped in mid-air (which no one really thought possible) and turned around. 'Oh hello. Yes?' 'We've got a class with-' Hermione began but... 'San Diego, sector two! Five incisors, a bicuspid and a really loose molar on stand-by. No, sorry' Tooth said, slapping her hand and dragging herself back to the class.

'Take a seat,' Tooth said. Every one sat down on the floor. Tooth quickly took the register before continuing. 'Now, does anyone know why we collect the teeth?' Tooth asked. No reply. 'Did anyone know that teeth contain the most important memories of childhood?' Again no reply. Tooth reached over to a box and looked at the front. 'Ronald Weasley.' Hesitantly, Ron raised his hand. 'Here are your memories,' Tooth said handing him the box.

Ron took the box. He gently rested his hand on the box's surface. With a mechanical clicking the box opened. Inside was a set of baby teeth. Harry raised his eyebrow feeling unimpressed. He looked up at Ron, but Ron was staring at the teeth with a faraway look in his eyes. 'Ron?' Harry said waving his hand in front of Ron's eyes. He didn't react. A tear slid down his cheek. Ron smiled gently.

Suddenly with a jerk, Ron snapped back to reality. He was breathing heavily. 'Did you see that?' He gasped. 'See what?' Hermione asked. 'Only you saw,' Tooth said gently. 'Just like only yourself or my fairies can open the box.' Harry was impressed, he'd never seen Ron like this before.

Tooth hovered into the air. 'Now, I have a list here for each of you.' She held out several scrolls of parchment. Everyone took one. 'Read the instructions to my fairies while I go and look for all of your tooth boxes.'

Harry looked down at his list. It was naming cities, sectors in those cities and numbers of types of teeth. He heard a buzzing in his ear. Looking up he saw a small croud of fairies hovering next to him. 'Umm...,' Harry fumbled before checking the list. 'Beijing, sector 5, twelve biscuspids, four incisors, one canine.' Several of the fairies buzzed in confirmation before flying off to one of the coin dispensers, collecting a few coins and then flying off through the window.

* * *

Tooth flew off around the tooth class. Every now and then she took a small box of the shelves. She pulled out one and checked the name. "Harry Potter." It was glowing. She pressed her fingers to the golden box surface. It opened and Tooth saw the memories.

Baby Harry was sitting on his mother's lap while his father conjured stars to entertain him. The baby giggled while he tried to catch them. The memory changed. Now Harry was sitting on the sofa at what was Christmas. His parents were handing presents to him from under the tree while a cat sat next to Harry and purred. The vision changed to Easter. Harry was hunting eggs. Now it was Harry's Birthday and Harry was riding a toy broomstick.

Now it was Halloween. Harry was in his cot. His mother was sitting next to him on the floor. She was crying. The door was blasted off its hinges. A tall dark figure was standing in the doorway, but Tooth noticed another dark figure standing almost unnoticeable in the shadows in the corner of the room. Tooth had no trouble recognising that outline. Pitch!

Tooth pulled herself out of the memories as the bell rang. She quickly hurried over to the class and pushed them out of the room. She sat down and began to think. A tunnel opened next to her and Bunny hopped out. 'Tooth, we've got a problem,' he said.

* * *

From the mountains surrounding Hogwarts, the dark figure of Pitch stood surveying the castle. One of his nightmares nuzzled his arm. He stroked its mane. 'Soon,' he said, 'Very soon.'


	5. Chapter 5: Dreams

Chapter 5: Dreams

* * *

Lunch was a very noisy affair. Many of the students who had been in the new classes were discussing them eagerly with the others. Harry glanced up at the top table. Professor North was sitting next to Dumbledore with a plate piled high with turkey, chipolatas wrapped in bacon and what looked like bread sauce. Bunnymund was seated next to Professor McGonagall. He was eating carrots and was conversing lightly with her. Professor Tooth was sitting at the table, but wasn't eating. On the contrary she was still issuing orders to her mini-fairies. Professor Sandy wasn't there.

Jack Frost walked past the Gryffindor table. Immediately all of the girls began giggling and swooning as did a few of the boys. As he passed them, he gave Hermione a tiny wink and a shadow of a grin. Hermione, to Harry's amazement, giggled and blushed. It was lucky Ron was too busy stuffing as much food into his mouth as he possibly could that he didn't notice.

* * *

After Lunch, Harry, Ron and Hermione ascended the marble staircase to the East tower. When they reached it… 'What the…!' A smooth tunnel, built entirely out of golden sand, was set into the wall. It was sloping gently upwards into what Harry presumed was the Dream classroom. Harry stared at the sand; he was sure had seen it before.

Of all the classrooms Harry had ever been in, this one was by far the most unusual, even including Wonder, Hope and Memory. The entire classroom was completely built out of golden sand. Desks and benches built entirely out of sand were situated around the class. At the front of the classroom, Harry was surprised to see a ship's wheel.

Flying through the air above them were stream of golden sand. Harry suddenly realised where he'd seen the sand before. It was the sand he'd seen last night, the one that made Ron dream he was flying on a broomstick. At least Harry now knew what this class would entail.

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat on a sand bench which crunched slightly under their weight. Everyone was rather quiet with just a slight hiss of moving sand disturbing the silence. There seemed to be an atmosphere of sheer tiredness pervading the air. Harry had to suppress a yawn.

Another crushing of sand echoed throughout the class. Turning everyone saw Professor Sandy entering or rather drifting into the classroom. He was smiling dreamily. He hovered past everyone to the front. He raised his arms and a cloud of sand appeared from his fingertips and coalesced into a desk. There were several "Ooh's" and "Aah's" as Sandy took a seat at the new desk.

He smiled at everyone. There was a silence. 'Umm... Professor Sandy?' Hermione said raising her hand. Sandy pointed to her. 'What is this class about?' she asked. Sandy began conjuring images over his head: a child in bed with a thought bubble over his head, Sandy himself, a horse, a figure of a man...

There was complete silence.

Sandy rolled his eyes and began to write on the board. His sand flowed across it forming letters and words. They read "_Of all the classes you will be taking, Dream classes are the most important. It is vital to give people with sweet dreams for dreams bring new ideas and new thoughts and can lead to new discoveries.'_

There was another silence. Sandy rolled his eyes. He conjured an image of a child raising its hand and it had a question mark above it. _Questions? _Parvati Patil raised her hand. Sandy pointed to her. 'Professor, what had sand got to do with dreams?' There was a mumbling of agreement.

Sandy wrote on the blackboard _"Each grain of my Dreamsand contains a dream. I dreamt them up myself. You must learn to wield the dreamsand." _Sandy raised his hands and a stream of golden sand flew through the air. Everyone stared at it. With a slight rustle, the sand turned into a manta-ray. Applause broke out.

'How are we supposed to control this dreamsand?' Lavender asked. Sandy tapped his forehead. "_You have to use your imagination and feel how to do it." _Everyone began to think of a dream.

Hermione thought of the dream she had the previous night; an outstanding on all of her exams. She raised her hand. A small amount of sand rose from the desk and collapsed back down to the table.

Ron was having the worst luck of all of the students in the class. Nothing was happening with his sand whatsoever. His face was screwed up with concentration and his skin was bright red. It looked like he was suffering from severe constipation

Lavender's attempt resulted in a fountain of sand flying into her face. She fall backwards and was fast asleep instantly. She was dreaming about crystal balls and tea-leaves. Sandy giggled under his breath.

Everyone suddenly heard a gasp. Neville was sitting in front of a small spiraling golden vortex of sand. It twisted and formed his Mimbulus mimbletonia cactus. The cactus dissolved into a stream of sand and began to fly around the room in a rather chaotic path. It was so chaotic that professor Sandy had to interfere.

Harry managed to conjure a ball of golden sand. He concentrated on a stag. The golden sand began to morph, but suddenly the sand turned grey. Harry stared at it no one else had noticed. The grey sand turned black. Harry yelled. Ron and Hermione turned to face him. 'What the...!' With a massive whinny, the black sand turned into a massive horse. By now the entire class was staring.

Parvati and Lavender shrieked. The horse reared and charged. CRACK! A golden whip soared through the air and hit the horse which exploded into dust. Sandy looked into the corner of the room. A small shadow was disappearing.

A babble of questions erupted forth. Sandy raised his hands for silence, conjured an image of someone leaning over a desk writing something, and pointed to them. _"Back to work."_

* * *

Pitch was enraged. How had one of his nightmares been summoned to the dream class? There was something about that Potter boy that was corrupting the dream sand, but only when he had free reign over it. Pitch concentrated and looked into the boy's mind. He saw his fears. He feared dementors. Pitch smiled. These dementors sounded like they could be powerful allies.

Harry was afraid of losing his godfather. Pitch didn't know who his godfather was so took no interest in that. But Harry was most afraid of Lord Voldemort. Pitch opened his eyes. He could easily take advantage of this. If he could get into the boy's dreams at night, he would find a powerful source of energy.

* * *

Sandy waved everyone goodbye at the end of the class... then went into a meditative silence. There was a shadow in Harry's heart. Harry himself didn't even seem to know it was there. This would likely mean trouble. He waved his hands and four sand/paper aeroplanes flew out of the window.

* * *

The class was descending the stairs to the Fun classroom on the fourth floor. The class was so busy discussing the events of the previous lesson that at first they didn't notice the gradual drop in temperature... at least not until Neville slipped on a patch of ice.

They all stared around them. Tendrils of frost covered the windows and icicles hang from the ceiling. Snow was crunching under foot. Several murmurings echoed through the corridor. They turned the corner and...


	6. Chapter 6 Fun

Chapter 6: Fun

_SMACK!_

A snowball hit Ron hard in the face. 'WHAT THE...?!' Ron yelled rubbing snow out of his eyes. The door to the classroom in front of them swung shut. Hermione ran forwards and pushed on the door. It had jammed.

After a couple of attempts, the entire class had to smashed against the door to force it open.

_CRUNCH!_

A solid wall of snow fell on top of their heads. Spitting snow out of his mouth, Harry glanced around the room. His jaw dropped. Of all the classes Harry had ever seen, this class was the most beautiful he'd ever seen. A thick carpet of snow-covered the ground and pillars of ice held up a ceiling of totally transparent ice. A thin mist was drifting across the ground.

Someone laughed from above them. A blur suddenly resolved itself into Jack Frost. He was smiling and holding a snowball. The girls and one or two of the boys began to giggle and blush. Harry turned at Hermione... and to his amazement, she was blushing bright scarlet.

'Hi' Jack said, smiling, 'My name is Jack Frost.' 'Professor,' Parvati said. 'Please just call me Jack, none of this professor stuff.' Parvati blushed. 'What are we going to be doing in this lesson?' she asked. Jack smiled mischievously. 'We're gonna have a little fun.' He blew on the snowball. It glittered and sparkled.

_SMACK!_ It hit Malfoy in the face. 'How dare you!' he roared, 'My father will...' but he suddenly stopped speaking. Tiny, blue stars tinkled around his eyes. Everyone stared. Malfoy suddenly let out a snort of laughter. There was a moment of silence and Malfoy burst out laughing. Harry's jaw dropped.

Malfoy snatched up a snowball and threw it at Ron... who suddenly began laughing as well. Within seconds, a furious snowball-fight began. A snowball hit Harry on the side of the head. Turning to see who it was, he felt his stomach turn over. Cho Chang was holding a snowball and was giggling.

'Who needs ammo?' Jack laughed, shooting past. He waved his staff and several snowballs appeared out of nowhere. Hermione picked up one and threw it at Jack. It narrowly missed him. Jack didn't waste a second. Jack snatched up a snowball and threw it back at Hermione. It missed her, but Harry had a funny feeling that he was deliberately missing.

Neville suddenly crashed into Harry. Looking up, Harry saw that Neville had been riding on a toboggan. He was smiling wildly. 'I have never had this much fun in my life!' Neville laughed. Lavender and Parvati were making snowmen. Hannah Abbot had built a fort for people to hide behind.

Jack waved his staff and an igloo jumped up out of the snow. Harry hid behind it, narrowly avoiding a barrage of snowballs thrown at him by Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy was laughing, but not unpleasantly; if anything he was being rather friendly. Laughing himself, Harry snatched up a snowball and threw it in retaliation. It hit Malfoy on the ear.

Hermione was quickly worn out and had to sit down. Jack floated down next to her. Hermione felt herself blush. 'You've got great friends,' Jack said smiling at her. 'Thanks,' she said. She placed her hand on the ground next to her. All of a sudden, she felt a cold pressure on her hand. She jumped. Jack had placed his hand on hers. They both jumped to their feet and began babbling apologies to each other.

This was the most fun Harry had in months, but all too soon the bell rang. Groans echoed around the class. 'See ya next lesson,' Jack said. Ron dived for his timetable. 'This is the only lesson we have with you all week,' Ron said disapointedly. Another groan reverberated through the class.

* * *

Later that evening, Harry lay down in his Dormitory bed fast asleep. Dreamsand floated throught the window and curled around the room. It formed an image of Cho Chang above his head. He smiled as he dreamt of himself going on a date into Hogsmead with his dream girl.

From the corner of the room... stepped Pitch. He reached over and tapped the image. The sand turned black. Harry cringed in his sleep. The sand spiraled into a horse. 'My word, what a beautiful nightmare,' Pitch said, gently tickling the Nightmare's mane. 'I think I'll name you Onyx,' he continued, smiling creepily. Onyx cantered around his head and nuzzled his cheek.

High above the castle, Sandy floated on a cloud of dreamsand. All of a sudden, he felt an interference. NIGHTMARES! Sandy jumped off of the dreamsand cloud and floated down to the Gryffindor tower. He forced through the window. Too late. A nightmare forced past him and shot through the window. "Drat," Sandy thought. Turning, he saw a figure disappearing into the shadows in the corner of the room.

A low moan echoed through the dormitory. Harry was tossing and turning in his sleep, a small cloud of black sand was hovering over his head. Sandy hurried forward and tapped the sand. The black sand turned gold and a broomstick morphed out of the cloud.

Interestingly, no one had woken up during this experience. Sandy breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever Pitch was planning, Sandy was sure it couldn't be good. However he didn't have absolute proof yet and unlike North, Sandy couldn't get people to believe him just by the sight of a shadow and a feeling in his belly. As much as he hated it, he would have to wait for more proof.

Meanwhile however, Sandy was going to keep an eye on someone a bit more dangerous than Pitch... Professor Umbridge.


	7. Chapter 7: Sandy Investigates

Chapter 7: Sandy investigates

* * *

The following evening, Sanderson Mansnoozie (Sandy to you) watched as Harry left the Gryffindor tower. Sandy had heard that Harry had been stuck in a detention with Umbridge. He followed Harry from the outside of the castle, watching through the windows as he approached the DADA class.

Sandy peeked in through the window. He couldn't hear what was being said, but he could see Harry holding a very sharp, black quill. It seemed that it was equipped with an inbuilt supply of red ink. Sandy sighed and almost left... until he saw Harry start with surprise. Sandy would have gasped. What Harry had written on the parchment, had appeared on the back of his hand... actually cut into his flesh as though traced by a scalpel.

Sandy didn't like the look of this one little bit.

A loud whinny suddenly filled the air. Turning, Sandy saw a skeletal horse flying above the forbidden forest. Sandy stared. It looked like a cross between a nightmare and a fearling. Sandy squinted. Sandy floated over the grounds towards the forest. He entered the trees. The forest was dark and mostly quiet. At one point, a werewolf attempted to attack him, but a small blast of dreamsand was more than enough to send it into a deep sleep.

Sandy finally entered a clearing... and his jaw dropped. An entire herd of Fear-gryffins filled the clearing. Sandy hadn't seen a single Fear-gryffin since the golden ages, back when the Man-in-the-Moon was a baby and the Galaxy was ruled by the great constellations. The Fear-gryffins were a sub-species of the Fearlings. Unlike the other kinds of Fearling, the Fear-gryffins were neutrals and didn't join with Pitch. He could not abide with this.

Pitch destroyed the Fear-gryffins.

Sandy jumped as he felt something nuzzle his arm. One of the Fear-gryffins was gently snuggling his arm. Sandy smiled and patted it. The black of the Fear-gryffin's coat turned gold. It shrieked. Sandy clapped his hand to his mouth in horror. The Fear-gryffin turned into a spiraling vortex of dreamsand and became... a shooting star.

Sandy gaped. Shooting stars hadn't existed since before the golden age. Pitch had destroyed them all. Sandy remembered it well.

* * *

_During the Golden ages, Sandy had ridden across the night between the worlds on a Shooting star. Whenever he passed by a world, he heard the wishes of a thousand children... and he sent each one back a sweet dream._

_But then Pitch had been born into the world. He had once been determined to protect the worlds from the grasp of nightmares and fearlings, but then the nightmares had tricked Pitch. He became a force of evil. He and his dream-pirates brought the shooting stars crashing down into planets, moons and even the endless darkness of a black hole._

_Pitch had chased Sandy across the endless wastes of deepest space in his Nightmare Galleon. He had harpooned the star in an attempt to drag it to it's doom. Sandy however, would not let his star fall. He finally managed to break free, but ended up crashing down onto Earth. His star crashed down into the ocean and formed a sandy island._

_After the golden age had drawn to a close, MiM had chosen Sandy to be the first of the Guardians. Sandy had then turned his island into a ship for him to travel the world, spreading his dreamsand._

Sandy bit his lip.

* * *

The door creaked open. 'The Library is closed,' Madame Pince said, not looking up from her work. The door closed. Madame Pince looked up. Sandy was standing there. With a perceptable click, she wound her voice up several social classes. 'Professor Sandy,' Madame Pince said, smiling and standing up. 'The Library is open for Teachers until 11:30. How can I help you?' she asked.

Sandy formed an image of a book and a Fear-gryffin out of his dreamsand. 'You want a book about Thestrals?' she said. "Thestrals," Sandy thought. That must be what wizards call Fear-gryffins. Sandy nodded. 'There should be a mention of them in the Zoological section.'

Sandy hovered down through the library searching for the Zoological section. He raised his hand and trailed his fingers across the titles. "Little People, Big Plans by Ragnok the pigeon-toed." "Merpeople: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Language and Customs by Dylan Marwood." "From Egg to Inferno: a Dragon-Keepers Guide." "Fowl or Foul? A study of Hippogriff brutality."

Sandy looked and looked and finally found a book entitled "Thestrals: A study of the Necrotic Abilities of these Fascinating and Terrible creatures." Sandy pulled down the book (staggering under it's weight) and opened it. His eyes scanned through the pages. Phrases jumped out at him every now and then.

"Very rare." "Considered dangerous." "Only visible to those who have seen death." "Grim, grizzly and gaunt." "Can be domesticated and mounted." "Souly carnivorous." "Related to the Abraxan horse." "Unlike the Abraxan horse, Thestral wings do not possess feathers." "Extremely clever and have superb sense of direction." "Most commonly found in dark environments."

Finally, Sandy found a paragraph that seemed to be significant. He bent close to the book and read closely. "The Thestral tail hair is a powerful and tricky substance that can be mastered only by a witch or wizard capable of facing death. It should also be noted that the tail hair of the Thestral can be used in wand core construction and according to legend, it was used to construct the Elder Wand from the tale of the three brothers."

Sandy was biting his lip so hard, he was beginning to draw blood. He closed the book and placed it back on the shelf. Tail hair of a Thestral. Could this be a relic of the Moon Clipper? The Moon Clipper was the ancient craft the Man-in-the-Moon had travelled on as a baby with his parents. Sandy looked out of the window at the moon. The Moon was the Moon Clipper. It's hull had been blasted away after the battle that had resulted in MiM being stranded in Earth's orbit.

* * *

Half an hour later, Sandy left the Library and Madame Pince extinguished the candles with a wave of her wand. For a few minutes, there was complete silence. A shadow moved. A tall figure stepped out of the blackness. It was Pitch. He reached up and pulled down the Thestral book. He turned to the chapter on Thestral hair. Pitch smiled. 'How fascinating.'

Onyx nuzzled his arm. 'I have a special mission in mind for you my sweet,' Pitch said stroking her mane. 'I want you to find this... Lord Voldemort'. Onyx whinnied and shot through the window and into the night.

Moonlight shone through the window. Pitch sneered up at the moon. 'It's time to show you the true power that fear possesses,' Pitch chuckled.

'oo's there?' Pitch turned on the spot. A bent, old man holding a lantern entered the Library. A small, dust coloured cat was walking alongside him. The man bent over further and spoke to the cat. 'You go that way Mrs Norris and I'll go this way,' he said. He began walking towards the Potions section.

The cat began heading over to the Zoological section... towards Pitch. Pitch smiled. What a perfect opportunity.

* * *

Filch was too far away to hear his cat's yelp.


	8. Chapter 8: The Hogwarts High Inquisitor

Chapter 8: The Hogwarts High Inquisitor Part 1

_**I am so sorry this took so long, but I had to restart it several times and once my computer suddenly crashed and I lost all of my data. Not to mention my epilepsy. Anyway...**_

* * *

It was early Monday morning. A week had past since term began. Filch's office was empty except for Mrs Norris who was sitting on his desk. She was reading some of the reports on Filch's desk. No, _looking _at the reports; cats couldn't read... could they?

Mrs Norris's eyes were scanning across the words on the parchment. She purred. It almost sounded like she was saying "Hmm."

The door opened and Mrs Norris looked up. Filch entered holding a large fish. 'Morning, my sweet,' he said, smiling at his cat. 'I've gots a lovely fresh salmon for you.' He put it in her food dish beside a saucer of milk. 'There you are,' Filch continued, 'A lovely fresh bit o' milk. You like your milk don't you.'

Filch looked up at his cat. His smile faded slightly. Mrs Norris hadn't moved; she was just staring at her master. 'Are you alright my sweet?' he asked her. Mrs Norris just stared at him. After a moment she jumped of the desk and walked over to her food dish. Filch relaxed.

Mrs Norris took a nibble out of the fish. She frowned. _"Is this really the best Filch can do?"_ someone thought... and it wasn't Mrs Norris who was thinking it.

* * *

Hermione gasped and flattened out the newspaper revealing a large photograph of Dolores Umbridge, smiling widely and blinking slowly at them from beneath the headline:

MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM

DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST EVER HIGH INQUISITOR

'Umbridge - "High Inquisitor"?' said Harry darkly, his half-eaten piece of toast slipping from his fingers. 'What does that mean?' Hermione read the article out-loud. When she had finished there was a stunned silence. 'So now we know how we ended up with Umbridge! Fudge passed this "Educational Decree" and forced her on us! And now he's given her the power to inspect the other teachers!' Hermione was breathing fast and her eyes were very bright. 'I can't believe this. It's outrageous!'

'I know it is,' Harry said. He looked down at his right hand, clenched on on the table-top, and saw the faint white outline of the words Umbridge had forced him to cut into his skin. But a grin was unfurling on Ron's face.

'What?' said Harry and Hermione together, staring at him. 'I can't wait to see McGonnagle inspected. Umbridge won't know what hit her.'

* * *

Defence Against the Dark Arts was pretty much a repeat of the previous Monday; another week's worth of detentions for Harry.

Wonder and Hope however were just as interesting and fun as the previous week. In Wonder, Harry had managed to carve the main body of a snitch and the wings separately and he was just about to join them together when the bell rang.

Hope was an easy lesson. In spite of the fact that the weather was overcast, the quarry felt as warm as if the sun was shining bright and warm on them. In fact, this week, Bunny was making small chocolate eggs with strange fillings.

* * *

Memory class was next. Harry, Ron and Hermione ascended the stairs to the ornate, golden door. The entire class (minus the Slytherins to general delight) were waiting for the doors to open. They didn't have to wait long. After half a minute, the doors creaked open. The mini-fairies flew around them, peering in at their teeth presumably to cheek they had been brushing correctly.

They then bowed and gestured into the class. This time, Tooth was waiting for them instead of still giving orders. 'Hello everyone,' Tooth said happily, bobbing up and down in the air. 'I've got the scrolls ready for you all. We've got a lot of teeth out today.' She looked positively delighted about it.

'I'm going to divide you all into groups, arranged by-' 'Ahem,' said a soft, girly voice. Harry felt a rising sense of absolute dread. Very slowly, he turned 180 degrees to face the door. The short and stout figure of Dolores Umbridge was standing there, smiling widely and holding a clipboard.

Harry turned back to face Toothiana. She was looking around, slightly worriedly, at some of her mini-fairies, apparently under the impression that one of them had made the noise. She scratched her head in confusion. 'Ahem!' 'Oh, hello there,' Tooth said smiling and not at all flustered that she had just mistaken Umbridge for one of her fairies. 'Aren't you Dolores?' 'Dolores Jane Umbridge, yes,' Umbridge said smiling sweetly. 'You received my note telling you of the time and date of my inspection.

'Umm,' Tooth said, running her hands over herself like someone checking their coat pockets. She looked up, flew into the ceiling, tugged on something and flew back down holding a slightly torn piece of parchment. 'Well, I received your note, but I found your handwriting too loopy to read. Sorry.' Umbridge's eye twitched. 'No matter,' she said, 'Please continue teaching as normal. I am going to walk among the students and ask them questions.' The questions were simple; "What do you think of the classes?" "What do you think of Professor Tooth?" "Would you say these lessons are interesting?" and similar questions.

* * *

While Umbridge was asking questions, Tooth was searching the shelves. She was a little unsure about Umbridge so she was looking for her baby teeth. After twenty minutes, she managed to find a small box labeled "Dolores Umbridge." She lifted it up and opened it. She had never been so horrified; the teeth that had once been contained in the box had rotted into small piles of greyish-black dust. This meant that there was not so much as an ounce of her childhood memories left in her.

Tooth dropped the box as the bell rang. The dust blew out of the box and dissipated on the air. This didn't make any difference to Umbridge though as she had already lost her childhood memories. Tooth returned back to the class to wave them off. Umbridge however stepped forward.

'Before I go Professor might I just ask you,' Umbridge said, 'How old are you and how long have you been teaching here?' Tooth thought for a moment. 'Umm, I've been teaching here just over a week...' 'Ah yes, of course, you're new here,' Umbridge said making a note on her clipboard. 'And I think I'm about 532 years old.' Umbridge stopped and looked up. Harry who had just been about to leave, stopped in his tracks to listen too.

'I beg your pardon?' Umbridge said politely, smiling quite disbelieving. 'Umm,' Tooth counted on her fingers. 'Yeah, 532 years, give or take a month or two.'

* * *

_"Mrs Norris"_ sat outside the class, watching as Umbridge left the classroom. She smiled.


End file.
